Conventionally, fuel feed apparatuses stably feed fuel even when a residual quantity of fuel in a fuel tank is reduced. In some fuel feed apparatuses of this type, a bottom of a sub-tank of a fuel feed apparatus is constantly urged against the inner bottom wall of the fuel feed apparatus.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,884 discloses an arrangement, in which struts capable of expansion and contraction are mounted to a flange that covers an opening (100a) of a fuel tank. The struts are held by a lid of a sub-tank, so that the struts stroke inside the inner periphery of the sub-tank. The bottom of the sub-tank is urged against the inner bottom wall of the fuel tank by resilient force of the struts.
However, in the conventional construction in U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,884, the physical relationship among the struts and internal components in the sub-tank cannot be confirmed through the sidewall of the sub-tank, when the struts are assembled to the sub-tank. Therefore, confirmation of presence and absence of interference among the struts and components received in the sub-tank may be difficult.
Besides, a corner of a bottom portion of the sub-tank may be formed in an arcuate-shape for smoothing an installation work, in which the sub-tank is inserted into a fuel tank.
The struts may strike against the arcuate-shaped inner surface of the sub-tank, when the struts stroke within the inner periphery of the sub-tank disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,884. Accordingly, a degree of the stroke, by which the struts expand and contract, may decrease.